Fantasy Basketball Drop List: Week 4

November 12, 2022

Alex Fischbein looks at fantasy basketball players who can be dropped in Week 4. These are players who are struggling in the 2022-23 NBA season.

What's up, RotoBallers! Hopefully, the 2022-23 NBA season hasn't gone sour for you this early on.

The Drop List returns for another week, and it might not be kind to some of your rosters. Each week, I'll take a look at a handful of NBA players that can be dropped from your fantasy team.

Without further ado, let's get to the fantasy basketball drop list. Every Saturday, we'll have a list of NBA players and a small dive into why they can be cut from some or all fantasy formats. Please take into account: each fantasy league is different. Make sure you check out the waiver wire and have a player in mind to replace one of the following players that you may drop.

Players to Consider Dropping or Replacing

Josh Richardson (SG/SF, SAS)

13% rostered

The San Antonio Spurs feel like a Halloween candy bowl for fantasy managers. Do you just take one or do you grab a handful and risk that they put apples and dental floss in there?

Richardson went from one of those small Reese's cups to dental floss very quickly. He even produces some small Snickers type of games here and there, but not enough to be considered a king-size Twix bar.

Alright, enough with the candy references. He's averaging 11.3 points right now which isn't bad for someone that you can get off of the waiver wire. Outside of that, however, he only adds 2.2 rebounds and 2.9 assists while turning over the ball a career-high 2.1 times per game. His efficiency is alright and he adds a couple of threes per game, but in his last five games, he put up single-digit scoring numbers in three of them and turned the ball over 15 times.

If you're in a really deep league, then keeping him might be the best course of action. Other than that, there are other streaming options and players you can find that can give the same or better value with fewer turnovers.

Evan Fournier (SG/SF, NYK)

27% rostered

We're actually still talking about Evan Fournier's fantasy relevance in 2022?! The New York Knicks might be stuck with him due to his $27M contract, but that doesn't mean you have to be stuck with him in fantasy basketball.

Looking at the last 10 games, the Frenchman has only scored more than eight points three times. In his last six games, he scored 19 points combined. This magnifies the fact that he only averages 2.3 rebounds and 1.7 assists per game.

There isn't much more that needs to be said, go ahead and cut that weight off of your roster.

Jaylen Nowell (PG/SG, MIN)

10% rostered

Let's start this one by saying, if you're in a 14-team league or deeper, then hang on to Nowell for a bit longer. Outside of those leagues, other backup point guards will get the job done more consistently in both points and category leagues.

Nowell has been able to put up some very good games when he gets more than 20 minutes per game. The issue with that is he's still averaging 18 minutes per game and Jordan McLaughlin is slowly but surely getting more minutes as well. Let's not neglect the fact that the Timberwolves have looked like a trainwreck on offense for the most part, and there could be some major changes after they mortgaged their entire future just to bring Rudy Gobert into the fold.

In smaller leagues, guards such as Tyus Jones, Jevon Carter, Derrick White, and even Tre Mann can give better value across the board.

Robert Covington (SF/PF, LAC)

27% rostered

Covington's lack of playing time so far this season has been a bit of a surprise. Kawhi Leonard is still trying to make it back on the court, Paul George missed some games, and he's been a more consistent all-around contributor than a lot of the names that are coming off of the bench. Some of this is due to his own health, but as of right now, he's 11th on the roster in terms of minutes per game.

Through the seven games he's played this season, he's putting up the lowest numbers of his career across the board since his rookie year when he only played seven games all season. He was once a great option as a three-and-D fantasy asset. He was giving steady production in threes, efficiency, blocks, steals, and rebounds. Now, he's not producing in any category.

We bid you farewell from our fantasy rosters, Sir Covington.

Jalen Duren (C/PF, DET)

25% rostered

The rookie big man out of Memphis has been a great asset in dynasty leagues and even a good streaming option in other formats so far this season. In leagues with less than 14 teams and non-dynasty formats, this fantasy run looks like it's coming to an end.

Over the last three games since returning from injury, he's been producing some solid reserve-level stats over 24.1 minutes per game. He's registered 6.0 points, 7.3 rebounds, and 1.7 blocks per game in that time frame.

The big issue with all of this is that Marvin Bagley III is looming in the background. Bagley is close to a return and he played 27.2 minutes per game for the Pistons when he joined them last season. Isaiah Stewart and Bojan Bogdanovic have the starting frontcourt spots locked up, then Bagley will be the first player behind them. This leaves Duren and Isaiah Livers to battle it out for the remaining minutes.

Dropping him before his minutes start to dip could give you the time to find a better waiver wire addition rather than waiting and missing out on some good finds.

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